Team,At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple's day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.Steve

On behalf of everyone here at TiPb and Smartphone Experts we wish Steve Jobs a full and fast recovery.

Of course they did. This was timed not only to take place on a US holiday, but also to come immediately before Apple's earnings call, which will be outstanding and erase most, if not all, of the stock market damage done by this unfortunate medical issue.
But so what? Just because the CEO is gravely ill does not mean the company has to start acting irrationally.

Are you a real doctor (with a PhD) or do you have one of those degrees where they decided to just give you the title (e.g. medicine) even though you did earn it through the required years of education.

Steve Jobs, as CEO of Apple, has essentially become the icon of Apple himself. No offense to cook, but the thought of someone else announcing the next iteration of the iPhone or iPad, is difficult to fathom

I wish Steve all the best, but am very happy that he has surrounded himself with a lot of very dedicated, talented and capable people to run the show in his absense. Plus - he's only a FaceTime call away should they need his input on something.

Last time he was off we got 3GS which was just a copy of the last with an upgrade on the inside. I hope that is not the case this time. But if he needs time off for health then so be it. I wish him a speedy recovery

I was sad to receive the news of more health problems for Steve Jobs. The most awesome gadget and the biggest bank account are meaningless when you don't have your health.
My most sincere and best wishes to Steve and his family for a speedy and full recovery. May they find the strength to fight off this latest ailment.

Rene:
What's up with the obituary picture.
It creeps me out. Seem to accentuate the gravity of the situation beyond the actual released information. Sorta making it look like he died.
Here's hoping its just minor issues.

Last time this happened it turned out to be more serious than most people imagined, a major transplant. Hope that's not the case again.
One of these days he really is going to be retired or gone, and that's going to be one big traumatic event for at least 3 industries, maybe even bigger than losing Walt Disney.
Get well, Steve. Doctors, don't make any mistakes.

Best wishes for Steve and his family. He has had enough to deal with as far as his health goes. Hopefully he will be back next year feeling great and hopefully weighing about 20 pounds more than he does now!

Noooooooooooo!!!!! No! No! No! No! No!
I respect Mr. Jobs's need for privacy and wish him a speedy recovery...
And yes, my motives are somewhat selfish...
Last time Apple didn't do so well without their CEO...
Here's to hoping that Steve Jobs's confidence in his team translates into his team acting confidently!
Health and family definitely come first, and if Mr. Jobs does end up retiring soon rather than returning he is doing so at the top of his game. But I will sure miss him in the limelight saying "Boom!"
Alternative language dictionary for iBooks or no! ;) j/k. We all have our nitpicky gripes about the iPhone and iPad and iPod but we wouldn't speak up about them if we didn't care about the product and also if we didn't know we would get many of our wishes granted with the next update!!!!